Homocysteine lowering by folate-rich diet or pharmacological supplementations in subjects with moderate hyperhomocysteinemia.

Background/objectives: To compare the efficacy of a diet rich in natural folate and of two different folic acid supplementation protocols in subjects with "moderate" hyperhomocysteinemia, also taking into account C677T polymorphism of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene.

Subjects/methods: We performed a 13 week open, randomized, double blind clinical trial on 149 free living persons with mild hyperhomocyteinemia, with daily 200 μg from a natural folate-rich diet, 200 μg [6S]5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), 200 μg folic acid or placebo. Participants were stratified according to their MTHFR genotype.

Physicochemical, nutritional, and microstructural characteristics of chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) and common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) following microwave cooking.

Microwave cooking of legumes such as chickpeas and common beans was evaluated by assessing the cooking quality (cooking time, firmness, cooking losses, and water uptake) and the physicochemical, nutritional, and microstructural modifications in starch and nonstarch polysaccharides. Compared to conventional cooking, microwave cooking with sealed vessels enabled a drastic reduction in cooking time, from 110 to 11 min for chickpeas and from 55 to 9 min for common beans. The solid losses, released in the cooking water, were significantly less after microwave cooking than after conventional cooking (6.

Determination of folate vitamers in food and in Italian reference diet by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A trienzyme treatment (conjugase, alpha-amylase, protease) followed by affinity chromatography and reversed-phase HPLC with UV and fluorescence detection was performed for the quantification of folate vitamers in legumes (chickpea and beans), processed meats (salami Milano and Parma ham) and in an Italian reference diet. This method allowed a good separation of six folate vitamers: 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, folic acid, 10-formylfolic acid, 10-formyldihydrofolate and tetrahydrofolate within 30 min. Recovery, reproducibility and limits of detection of the method are reported.

Relationship between in vitro Fe and Zn dialysability and peptide composition of albumin and globulins extracted from cooked bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

In vitro dialysability of iron, zinc and protein was determined from whole bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), albumin and globulin (G1, G2) after cooking. Albumin showed the highest iron, zinc, protein and phytic acid content. Cooking increased iron and protein dialysability only in whole bean and albumin.